


Sour Like Gummy Worms

by Jules33



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Truth or Dare, Unrequited Love, guys being dudes, its not that bad though i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-04 01:32:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6635536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jules33/pseuds/Jules33
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well, think of it like this,” Kuroo pulled Yaku closer and outstretched his arm, showing off his vision, “You think Lev’s sister is hot. And the person who can get you closer to Lev’s sister is Lev. So if you can convince Lev to let you hang out this weekend, you can end up hanging out with his sister.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be a one-shot, but it got really out of hand. More chapters of these two to follow.

It was the end of another long and exhausting day for the Nekoma team. They had been practicing receives today - especially diving ones - trying to make their defensive skills even better than they already were. After all of the squatting and diving, the team members’ legs were killing them. Though, there was one team member who was still as lively as ever.

“Kenma! Kenma! Don’t you wanna toss me a few more balls?” Lev was bouncing around excitedly, disturbing the poor blonde who was trying desperately to ignore him. Kenma glared at him and mumbled something about needing to clean up before he shuffled off.

The other boys were busy actually cleaning up the gym after the day’s practice. Inuoka and Shibayama were washing the floors and Yamamoto was putting away the net. Off to the side, Kuroo and Yaku were chatting together while cleaning up some of the water bottles that were lying around. The rest of the team had gone off to the club room to get changed.

“Honestly, having to practice diving receives is so taxing,” Kuroo whined, rubbing one of his sore shoulders.

Yaku rolled his eyes, “It’s important to learn, though. Plus, you’re good at them, it’s a piece of cake for you.”

“That’s my point, though,” Kuroo took a sip of water, “I’m good at diving receives already, so why should I have to practice if it’s the rest of the team that needs to practice? I could be doing better things with my time. Like practicing spikes.”

“You sound so full of yourself right now, Kuroo. Besides, the ‘rest of the team that needs practice’ likes looking to you for guidance.”

“He also likes looking to you,” Kuroo smirked down at Yaku, “I’d say you’re just as.. _Influential_ as I am.”

Yaku glared at Kuroo and whacked him on the arm, “Stop teasing me about that, will you? It’s not _my_ fault that Lev chose to follow me around like a puppydog. He knows he needs to work on receives and obviously he realized that I was the best, so he chose me to be his teacher. However, when I accepted the role, I didn’t realize he would be glued to my hip every time that we’re near each other.”

“So.. Because you’re good at receives and because you were naive enough to say yes to him, he now follows you around. And it’s _not_ your fault?”

The taller boy only laughed when Yaku hit him again, “You’re a tool, you know that?”

Kuroo shrugged and took another quick sip of water, “Hey, speaking of your lapdog, here comes Lassie now.”

Yaku groaned quietly and turned towards where Lev was running over, a grin spread across his face. Kuroo chuckled softly beside him at Lev’s abundant eagerness. The boy really did have an endless stamina.

“Hey, Yaku! I was thinking maybe today we could practice receives a little extra and then go out for some udon afterwards. What do you think?”  
The upperclassmen sighed, “Lev, I’ve told you before, I don’t want to do extra practice after regular practice. Besides, didn’t you get enough receiving practice today?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe we could just go out for udon together.”

Yaku didn’t even need to look at Kuroo to see his trademark smirk. God, this was embarrassing.

“Ah, I’m a little busy tonight, Lev. I have a lot of homework and stuff to do. You know how it is.”

Lev pouted, “But you always have homework and stuff to do.”

“Aww,” Kuroo moved to stand beside Lev, reaching a hand up to pull him down a bit and squish his cheeks together, “Look at this adorable face, Yaku. How could anyone say no to this face?” Lev deepened his pout, trying to enhance the effect.

“I’m not saying no. I’m just saying not today. Maybe some other time when I’m not so busy.”  
Lev wiggled free of Kuroo’s grip and brushed himself off, “Okay. I’ll ask some other time when you’re not so busy.” The taller boy waved and left the gym to go get changed in the club room.

Kuroo turned to Yaku with his hands on his hips, staring down at him. The smaller male bristled and looked away, “Don’t start with me, Kuroo. You may be captain of our volleyball team, but that doesn’t make you my dad.”

“I just don’t understand why you can’t get some udon with him. He idolizes you, bro, just let him hang out with his idol for a bit.”  
“Lev doesn’t idolize me; he idolizes some embodiment of the perfect ace. All he wants from me is extra receiving practice.”

“You don’t get udon with someone you just want volleyball tips from.”

“Well, I’m also older than him. He probably thinks I’m some sort of cool senpai.”  
Kuroo scoffed and started heading towards the club room, “I don’t know where he would get that idea.”

“Hey, Kuroo,” Yaku followed after his friend, deciding to ignore the previous comment, “You don’t think he’s, like, _gay_ , do you?”

The captain stopped in his tracks and looked over at Yaku, raising a brow, “And if he was?”

“I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant.. Well.. You don’t think he has some kind of a crush on me, do you?”

Kuroo shrugged and continued his walk to the club room, “He asks to hang out a lot, but I don’t think that necessarily means he likes you. I think Lev just needs to make some friends and, considering you two spend a lot of time together during practice, he probably considers you to be a friend. I get that he can be a bit much to handle at times, but at least he’s friendly. You should give him a chance.”

Yaku nodded and walked into the now-deserted club room, “We’ll see.”

\---

“Lyovochka! I came to pick you up from practice today!” A young woman ran into the gym, breezing past players as they made their way to the club room to change. She headed straight for Lev and threw her arms around him in a warm embrace, “Aren’t you excited to see me?”

Lev blushed, a bit embarrassed at the fact that his sister just charged into the gym and was calling him by his nickname in front of his teammates, “Yes, very happy, neesan. Can you wait for me to finish cleaning up the gym and give me time to change, though?”  
The girl pulled away, apologizing, before going back to the entrance of the gym to wait for her brother. She sat on the steps, completely unaware of the multiple sets of eyes that were on her. Almost the entire team was transfixed by the Russian goddess who had just graced them with her presence.

Even Yaku.

Especially Yaku.

“You’ll catch bugs with your mouth open like that,” Kuroo teased, stepping back to dodge the libero’s hand when it came swinging at him.

“Shut up, okay? Girls don’t usually come here during practice, so I was just shocked. Plus, did you _see_ her? She’s gorgeous.”  
“I thought you liked girls with short hair.”

Yaku waved him off, “They don’t have to have short hair, it’s just a plus. Unlike some people, I have very open standards.”

Kuroo scoffed and nodded, “Right, sure you do. By the way, Yaku, did you see who that girl is related to?”

“Yes, I was watching as she ran in to hug Lev. It was pretty funny to see him get so red like that. Why do you ask, though?”

“Well, think of it like this,” Kuroo pulled Yaku closer and outstretched his arm, showing off his vision, “You think Lev’s sister is hot. And the person who can get you closer to Lev’s sister is Lev. So if you can convince Lev to let you hang out this weekend, you can end up hanging out with his sister.”

The smaller boy frowned, “Don’t you think it’s wrong to use Lev like that?”

“I told you to give him a chance. If these are the means necessary to get you to spend at least five minutes with him outside of practice, then so be it. I just want to see all of my kittens get along.”

After that comment, Yaku shoved the captain off, “You’re a creep, but I’ll do it. I’m sure Lev won’t mind, right? He’s been begging me to hang out with him for months now anyways.”  
Kuroo nodded and patted Yaku on the back, “Go talk to him before he leaves.”

Yaku took a deep breath and jogged over to Lev, catching him before he walked out to the clubroom, “Hey, Lev, what’s up?”

Lev smiled down at him, “I’m just about to go change, what’s up with you?”

The libero cleared his throat and scratched at the back of his neck, trying to think of a way to phrase what he was going to say, “Well, uh, I don’t have any homework or stuff to do this weekend, so I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out? With me? As long as it’s not a problem, I know this is kind of last minute considering it’s Thursday, but I--”

“Yes! It’s no problem!” Wide eyes were staring down at Yaku with excitement, “You can come over tomorrow after practice and spend the night.”

“Actually, I was just thinking about coming over on Sat--”

“This will be so much fun, Yaku! We can hang out and play video games and watch movies-- Ooh! Have you seen that new action movie with the cars and the guns? I’ve heard it’s really good. We should rent it tomorrow.”

“I don’t really like action movies and--”

“That’s okay! We can watch a different movie. I have a huge collection of different movies that we can watch; I’m sure there’ll be one that you like. We can watch whatever you want and make popcorn and eat a lot of candy. What kind of candy do you like, Yaku? I can go out and buy it today, so we’re prepared for tomorrow.”

It was very hard to get a word in during Lev’s rambling and Yaku was quickly getting roped into a sticky situation. His original plan was to just go over to the other boy’s house on Saturday for a few hours and watch a movie with him and his sister, but Lev had other ideas. The kid wanted a full-on slumber party and - no matter what Yaku said - he was getting a full-on slumber party.

Yaku silently cursed for letting himself get stuck like this, “I like anything sweet and sour. Like those sour gummy worms.”

Lev chuckled to himself and Yaku immediately asked what was so funny, “Nothing, nothing, it’s just.. They’re kind of like you, don’t you think? Really sour, but still sweet?”

The older boy could feel his face redden and he looked away before Lev could notice, “I’m not like those stupid worms! I just like to eat them.”

“If you say so,” Lev shrugged, “Friday, though, right? We can walk back to my place together and you can spend the night. My parents are out of town, so my sister is here to babysit. I hope that’s alright with you.”

That was absolutely fine with Yaku. Nothing getting in between him and the older Haiba - except for Lev, of course. Everything was going somewhat according to plan. He would have to spend more time with Lev than he had originally bargained for, but there would also be a lot of time with Lev’s sister. Maybe some alone time if he was lucky.

So it was agreed upon. Yaku would be going to Lev’s house after practice tomorrow and spending the night. Everything would go exactly like Yaku had planned; nothing bad would happen. Nothing bad _could_ happen.

\---

Yaku was on his way out of the clubroom to meet Lev outside. Everyone else had already left and he was the last one out because he and Kuroo had to stay a little later to get a volleyball down from the roof (some outdoor practice had gotten out of hand). He had his bag packed for the night at Lev’s and he was ready to finally get some rest, when Kuroo stopped him at the door.

“Hey, you gonna be good for tonight?” Kuroo looked a bit concerned, though Yaku didn’t really understand why.

“I’ll be fine, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I just want to make sure you aren’t about to do anything stupid. I know you’re going over to get some babe, but make sure you don’t hurt Lev’s feelings in the process, okay? His sister may be hot, but she’s not the only person who lives there.”  
“Who do you think I am, Kuroo? I’m not gonna treat Lev like shit just because his sister is gonna be there. We’re still going to watch movies and whatnot, I’ll just try to get a few minutes alone with his sister.”

Kuroo nodded, “Alright, alright. I’ll text you later to see how things are going, okay? Text me if you need anything and text me goodnight, so I don’t worry. You know how much I care about my sweet lil’ libero.”

Yaku shoved him out of the way and started walking off to Lev, “My goodnight message will be the middle finger emoji, Kuroo. I hope you enjoy it.”

The captain laughed and began to walk off towards the bus station, waving the two other boys goodbye. Lev waved back while Yaku just rolled his eyes.

“Should we get going, Yaku? Do you have everything?”

“Yes. I have everything. My school bag, my volleyball bag, and my bag of stuff for your house.”

Lev frowned, “Do you really need all of those bags? Don’t they weigh a lot?”

“I like to stay organized, so I don’t care if they’re heavy or not. You should probably worry about your own massive bag,” Yaku motioned to the backpack Lev was shouldering. It worked as a school bag and gym bag for the taller boy, but it was over half the size of Yaku himself.

The taller boy shrugged and - before he could stop him - Lev was grabbing the volleyball bag out of Yaku’s hand, “I don’t mind it. I can handle carrying your bag as well, so that we’re even. Two bags each.”

“I told you I didn’t care, I can carry my own bags, Lev. You should just hold your own.”

Lev shook his head in response and started walking, “They would slow you down and it’s a long walk.”  
Sighing, Yaku decided to accept the nice gesture and began walking alongside Lev. The bags actually _were_ heavy, so he was at least a little grateful that the other boy was willing to carry one of them. It was a really sweet thing of Lev to do; nobody else had ever carried Yaku’s bag for him. Maybe the sleepover wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.

The two boys walked quietly down the sidewalk, which was a bit shocking to Yaku. He had expected Lev to be talking non-stop and bouncing around, but the boy was silent. Yaku dared a glance over to him and was surprised to see that Lev looked extremely nervous.

He was staring down at the ground, his brows furrowed in concentration. Across his cheeks was a light blush that seemed to be spreading further across his face. His teeth were worrying away at his bottom lip and Yaku had to stop himself from staring too long at _that_ sight. Lev appeared to be deep in thought, something was obviously worrying him, but Yaku didn’t know what. Maybe something had happened at school?

Yaku cleared his throat to get the boy’s attention, deciding that he should try and talk to help Lev forget about whatever was worrying him, “Uh, you had some nice receives today.”  
Lev’s eyes widened and he looked over to Yaku, “Really?”

“Yeah, really. You picked up one of Kuroo’s spikes and that was pretty impressive. I think you’re really improving.”

The blush on Lev’s face darkened and he looked back down again, “Thanks. I’m working really hard.”

Seeing Lev blush at his words made Yaku blush a bit as well and he quickly looked across the street so Lev wouldn’t see. What was he doing? Getting all worked up over someone else getting worked up. He couldn’t help it though; thinking of Lev’s reddening cheeks only caused his to redden as well.

An awkward silence settled back over the boys. Yaku was trying to clear his head, annoyed at his lack of self-control. Lev was trying to prepare himself for the long night ahead of him. The air between them was tense and Yaku was grateful when they finally reached the Haiba household.

“You can bring your stuff to my room first and then we can get a snack or something,” Lev opened the door and walked inside, leaving his shoes by the entrance.

Yaku followed after him and looked around. It was a pretty nice house, similar to the Morisuke household. There were a lot of paintings on the walls and plenty of decorative pieces on shelves about the house. Everything was very neat and Yaku wondered if it was always like this or if they had just tidied up for him.

Lev walked past the living room and the kitchen, heading down the hallway to his own room. His bedroom was the second door on the left and Yaku assumed that his sister slept next door and his parents were across the hall. At the end of the hall was the bathroom.

“You can put your stuff in that corner over there, by the closet,” Lev motioned to the area he was talking about as he set Yaku’s volleyball bag down and tossed his own bag by his desk.

Yaku set his bags down gently and brought his volleyball bag over from where Lev had dropped it. He looked around the surprisingly clean room and took a deep breath. Lev had two beds set up side by side - which took up most of the space - and a desk on the opposite wall. There were a few bookshelves holding a large variety of items here and there and a shelf above the desk that held some trophies. It was much more plain than Yaku had expected.

“What do you think? Is it as cool as you expected?” The taller boy looked at him with eager eyes.

He wanted to say no, because it was a very simple room, but for some reason he couldn’t bear the thought of hurting Lev’s feelings. Especially because Lev looked so proud, “It looks pretty cool. You have some nice trophies.”

Lev swelled with pride and walked over to the trophy shelf, “Yeah, they’re mostly from races or other small competitions from middle school. I don’t have any volleyball ones yet, but I’m hoping to get some soon. I want to have an entire shelf dedicated to them.”

Yaku couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face, “If you keep practicing, you’ll need a whole wall dedicated to the trophies you’re going to get.”  
The tips of Lev’s ears turned a dark shade of red and he coughed, “Do you wanna get a snack or something? We can start watching a movie, too.”

There wasn’t time left for an answer, because Lev was headed towards the kitchen anyways. Yaku quickly followed after him; he’d been hungry ever since practice ended. Though, he was a bit confused at the sudden change of topic.

In the kitchen, Lev’s sister was texting on her phone. She smiled as Lev walked in with Yaku, “Hello, baby brother and friend! How was your practice? Did you hit spikes?”

Lev nodded and opened the pantry, digging around, “I hit a few spikes, it was pretty cool. Yaku said I did good on receives, so I think I’m improving.”

“I’m very proud, Lyovochka,” she turned to look at Yaku and he felt himself start to freeze up, “Are you Yaku, then? The receiving one?”

“Uh, yes. I’m the receives guy,” Lev looked over at him and raised a brow. Yaku chose to ignore him.

His sister laughed, “I have heard a lot about you, Yaku. Lev thinks you are _very_ good at volleyball. Right, Lev?”

The boy in question buried his head back in the pantry, blushing brightly. Yaku felt himself blush a bit as well. Lev talked about him? And with high praise?

Yaku cleared his throat, “I’ve played volleyball for a long time, so I have a lot of experience.”

“Ah, a man with _experience_. No wonder Lev thinks you’re so good,” she winked and smiled at Yaku as his blush darkened.

“Neesan!” They both jumped as Lev glared over at her, “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

She sighed, “As a matter of fact, I do, but I like spending time with you too. Your friend’s face looks funny when it’s all red.”

The siblings shared a small moment of nonverbal communication and Yaku was forced to wait awkwardly. Lev was sending his sister cold daggers and his sister was returning a coy smile. She looked like the cat that caught the canary to Yaku. It was a bit unsettling.  
Finally, she pocketed her phone and fixed her hair, “Well, I hope you two are fine alone, because I’m going out. Mom and dad said you need a responsible babysitter, but I think your older friend will do just fine, right?”

Yaku nodded vacantly, “I can babysit Lev if you need me to.”

She laughed again, “Have fun, then. I should be home some time tomorrow, Lyovochka, text me if you have an emergency.”

Lev nodded and waved her off, “Okay, have fun with your friends. You can text me if there’s an emergency.”

His sister walked over and kissed his cheek before walking out, “Goodbye!”

It was only after Lev’s sister had left that Yaku realized what just happened. His entire plan had gone down the drain in a matter of minutes. The goddess he had come to woo was walking out the door and would not be returning until he had left. Which meant he was left alone with--

“Okay, I got sour gummy worms, pretzels, and some microwaveable popcorn. We can order a pizza after the first movie or something. Speaking of movies, which one do you want to watch first? I know you don’t like action, so I set up a pile of other movies in the living room. You can pick the first one if you want.”

“Right, okay,” Yaku sighed and walked with Lev into the living room. This was going to be the longest night of his life.


	2. Daringly Truthful

They decided to leave the popcorn and candy for after dinner, so that they wouldn’t waste their appetite. The pretzels were left as a light snack option if either of them got hungry. Yaku picked the first movie that he saw, something about a girl who was turned into an old lady and had to live with a bird man..? Lev seemed extremely surprised that Yaku had never seen it before.

Neither of them talked during the movie, but they did share a few laughs. Yaku’s favorite character was the scarecrow, even if he didn’t say anything. The movie was more enjoyable than he thought and he was starting to feel more relaxed by the end of it.

Lev stretched and got up to grab the phone, “What kind of pizza do you like? We can get half and half.”

Yaku didn’t really have a preference when it came to toppings, so he decided to go with plain cheese. The pizza ended up being entirely cheese, because Lev said he wasn’t in the mood for toppings. It made Yaku wonder what kind of toppings Lev would have gotten had he been in the mood. He seemed like the kind of guy to like pineapple on his pizza.

With the pizza having been ordered, Lev set up the next movie and settled back on the couch. Yaku noticed he was slightly closer than before. It could have been unintentional, though.

They watched about 15 minutes of previews and then Lev paused the movie as it was about to start and turned to look at Yaku, “Hey, can I ask you about something really quick?”

If there was one question Yaku absolutely hated, it was that one. It made his stomach clench, even if nothing was wrong. Nonetheless, he nodded in response.

“Earlier, when my sister was here, you acted like an idiot. Why?”

Yaku wanted to fire back that he had not been acting like an idiot, but he decided not to initiate an argument, “Well, you see, your sister is very.. pretty. I get nervous sometimes around really pretty girls. I’m sure you understand, right?”

Lev studied him carefully and the smaller boy squirmed uncomfortably, “You think Alisa is pretty?”

“Yes, don’t you? Everyone on the volleyball team thought she was very pretty when she came to pick you up on Thursday.”

“Of course I do,” Lev frowned, pausing for a moment, “Yaku, do you think I look like Alisa?”

Yaku’s head snapped up, staring at Lev with wide eyes. What was the other boy even asking right now? Was he trying to get Yaku say he was pretty or something? Who asks something like that?

Lev saw the look on Yaku’s face and quickly backpedaled, “I didn’t mean it in a weird way. I was just wondering because a lot of people say Alisa and I look alike. We have very similar faces.”

Now that he actually said something about it, Yaku was able to see it. The two had similarly shaped eyes and even the same nose. The soft smile that had graced Alisa’s face was almost identical to the one Lev had whenever someone complimented his volleyball skills. Their hair was parted the same way and was the same color. The more Yaku stared, the more similarities he found.

He suddenly felt very sick.

The doorbell rang and Yaku breathed a sigh of relief. Lev got up to answer the door, chatting with the pizza delivery man. While he was handling that, Yaku pulled out his phone and texted the first person that came to mind: Kuroo.

  


 

Lev came back in with the pizza and Yaku quickly put his phone back in his pocket. His conversation with Kuroo didn’t go exactly as planned, but he _did_ learn some things. For one, he was a lot gayer than he was when he woke up this morning. And his night was about to get a lot worse after realizing that, too.

“I thought we could start off with two slices and then pop the popcorn. That way we still have some for later,” Yaku stared down at the pizza Lev handed him and nodded, not daring to make eye contact.

They ate in silence while the movie played. This one was pretty good as well, but Yaku wasn’t paying attention to it. He tried to focus on it in order to distract his mind, but it was no use. His heart was racing and his throat felt dry. He felt terrible.

Lev finished up his pizza around the same time Yaku did and he took the liberty of taking their plates to the kitchen after pausing the movie, “I forgot to get drinks earlier, but do you want anything? We have soda, water, mil--”

“Water is fine,” Yaku took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He was acting ridiculous. Lev was sure to notice if he kept it up and that would only make matters worse. Popcorn could be heard popping in the kitchen and Yaku took the time to organize his thoughts.

He thought Lev was attractive. It wasn’t in the same way that he thought Lev’s sister was attractive, though. While she was graceful and mature, Lev was strong and robust. His jawline was more chiseled than his sister’s and Yaku was surprised that he found that more appealing. Lev had long legs that were toned from months of volleyball and muscular arms that carried volleyball equipment with ease. Yaku had noticed Lev’s aesthetically pleasing traits before, but he usually pushed those thoughts from his mind, not wishing to dwell on them.

Besides looks, Yaku also admired certain aspects of Lev’s personality. At times, the younger boy could be a bit too loud, but it was also charming in a way. He had a childish air about him that made Yaku smile and the shy way that he accepted compliments was incredibly cute. Lev was also very kind and caring; he carried Yaku’s bag for him and bought a bag of sour gummy worms just because they were Yaku’s favorite. Yaku found himself wondering why he had ever disliked Lev in the first place. Once you got past Lev’s initial eagerness, there was a boy who put others first with a warm smile on his face.

Lev returned with a bowl of popcorn and Yaku quickly snapped out of his lovestruck haze. He settled back into the couch, grateful when Lev placed the bowl between them. Right now, he really needed some space from the other boy.

The movie started playing again and both boys ate popcorn in silence. There hadn’t been as much talking as Yaku had planned, though people didn’t really talk during movies. It was a bit of a let-down if he was being completely honest. Even if he had been opposed to hanging out with Lev before, he wasn’t opposed to it anymore and he really wanted to talk to the guy.

Yaku opened his mouth to say something, but Lev beat him to the punch, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier.”

Uncomfortable? Ha. Lev had made Yaku more than uncomfortable, but he wasn’t about to tell him that, “No, it’s not your fault, I was just being stupid. You and your sister do look a lot alike.”

Lev nodded and chewed on his lip for a moment, thinking of what to say, “Do you want to do something else after this movie? We can play a game or something. Or we could keep watching movies, it’s up to you, I don’t mind.”

A game, huh? That sounded much more entertaining than whatever this was. What would they play, though? Hopefully not a video game, that would only cause for more silence. Lev didn’t seem like the type of person who really enjoyed board games, though.

“I wouldn’t mind playing a game. What do you have in mind?”

“We have video games or board games, or we could play some kind of classic sleepover game. Like truth or dare or never have I ever.”

Yaku considered his options. Truth or dare seemed like a pretty good choice. He’d be able to learn more about Lev that way, at least, “We could play truth or dare, I like that game.”

“Do you want to play now or wait until after the movie is finished?”

The older boy shrugged, “No offense, but I’m really not watching the movie right now.”

“You’re not?”

“Not really, I have something else on my mind.”

Lev tilted his head, “What’s on your mind?”

Yaku froze. Had he really been stupid enough to outright say that? The filter between his brain and his mouth had apparently shut off. The thing that had been on his mind was the person asking him what was on his mind and Yaku almost groaned at his stupidity. He obviously couldn’t come out and tell Lev that he had been thinking about his nice legs or his cute smile or his charming personality, because that would only make the already awkward sleepover even more awkward.

“It’s nothing important, don’t worry about it. Let’s just play truth or dare.”

The other boy didn’t seem entirely satisfied with the answer, but he didn’t push the topic any further. He shut off the movie and turned to face Yaku, “Alright, truth or dare?”

Deciding it would be best not to let Lev make him do something stupid, Yaku went with truth.

“How do you feel about end pieces on loaves of bread?”

“What?” What kind of a question was that?

“Like the pieces of bread on either end with the--”

“I know what they are,” Yaku huffed, “I just think it’s a stupid question.”

Lev pouted, “I can ask another one if you’d like. _I_ thought it was a good question.”

The libero shook his head and waved Lev off, “No, no, I’ll answer it. I guess I don’t really care about them, they’re just pieces of bread. I don’t really like them for sandwiches, because there’s too much crust, but I’ll eat them as toast or with soup.”

“I don’t really like them at all. The crust is my least favorite part, so I avoid the end pieces. When I was younger, I would cut the crust of the bread off, but now I just deal with it.”

Yaku laughed, “Kenma still cuts the crust off of his sandwiches, you know.”

Lev began laughing as well and the air around them started getting a little lighter, “He definitely seems like the type to do that.”

“Okay, your turn. Truth or dare?”

On his turn, Lev picked dare and Yaku had him see how many pieces of popcorn he could fit in his mouth at once. The two went back and forth with ridiculous questions and dares, learning more about each other in the process and becoming more comfortable.

Yaku learned that Lev was afraid of clowns, liked spicy foods, had girly handwriting, and was terribly in love with a small tabby cat that lived in his neighborhood. Lev learned that Yaku liked mountain climbing, preferred Molten volleyballs, was born on World Cat Day, and also liked spicy food. Their dares were combinations of ridiculous things like chugging an entire can of soda in one go, trying to whistle with a mouth full of pretzels, and having to sing along to a song they didn’t know.

After Lev had to complete the dare of trying to lick his elbow, both boys fell into a fit of laughter. All of the tension that was previously between them had melted away and they were left simply enjoying each other’s company. Yaku had relaxed into the couch, eating sour gummy worms and chatting with Lev comfortably. Once again, he had misjudged how his night was going to go. Instead of being terrible, he was having a wonderful time.

And then Lev ruined everything when Yaku picked truth for his next turn, “So, you never wanted to hang out with me before, no matter how many times I asked. And you’d always say you were busy with homework in order to spare my feelings, but I knew you just didn’t want to come. What made you finally change your mind? Was it Alisa?”

The mood instantly changed from light-hearted and fun to a tension that left Yaku feeling slightly cornered. Had Lev known the whole time that he only came over for his sister? Would he be upset if Yaku told him the truth and he _didn’t_ know? What if he told him and Lev kicked him out for using him like that? He didn’t want to make Lev upset, but he couldn’t lie to him either. And it wasn’t like he didn’t end up having a great time, anyways.

Yaku took a deep breath, “Originally, my plan was to come over and try to get closer to your sister. So she was what changed my mind.”  
Lev muttered a soft, “ _Oh,_ ” and looked down. Yaku felt a pang in his chest and cursed himself for ever listening to Kuroo.

“But even though she was what changed my mind, I ended up having a really great time with you. I didn’t get to get closer to her, but I got closer to you and I think that was even better.”

The taller boy’s head snapped back up, a fervent look in his eyes, “You do?”

Something about the hopeful way Lev was staring at him made Yaku’s heart clench as he nodded, “I’ve had a lot of fun so far and I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you again. Maybe we can go out for udon some time.”

Lev’s eyes grew wider and he nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah, that sounds like fun. We could go on Monday after practice if you want, I’m not busy on that day. Which place do you want to go to? I know of a place with really good spicy udon nearby, we could go there. And afterwards we could--”

“Let’s just see how we feel on Monday, okay? There’s no need to go planning our entire day together.”

“Right, sorry. We can plan it out more on Monday after practice. Will it be just us or do you want other people on the team to come?”

“Well, if you want other people to come, then they can. I thought it would just be us, but it’s okay if you’d rather--”

“No! I mean. No, it’s fine. It can just be us getting udon together. That sounds fine.”

Yaku smiled and looked down at his lap. He felt like some sort of shy elementary schooler who was planning his first date. Though, it wasn’t a date. They were just getting udon together. It _could_ be a date, technically, but Yaku was definitely not about to ask if it could be a date. Sure, Lev would probably say yes, but there was also the small chance that he would say no. Yaku didn’t want to make their night awkward again.

“I’m pretty sure it’s your turn, Yaku. If you want to keep playing.”

“Oh, right, yeah. Truth or dare, Lev?”

“I’ll go with truth this time. Hit me with your hardest question.”

His hardest question? Yaku wasn’t sure if he _had_ a hardest question or what it would look like even if he did. Maybe Lev was trying to step up the game here. He racked his brain for a question, because he really wasn’t good at coming up with them. And then he found himself asking what Kuroo would do in this type of a situation. He was pretty flirtatious. And gay.

Yaku blurted out the first question that came to his mind after that, “Are you gay?”

Now it was Lev’s turn to freeze, cheeks red and eyes wide in shock, “E-excuse me?”

Oh _shit_. That was definitely not something Kuroo would have done, not at all. Yaku had definitely screwed up now and there wasn’t any room to backpedal. He’d just have to play it off and hope Lev wouldn’t freak out on him.

“I've just heard some rumors and I was wondering if they're true or not. You don't have to answer if you don't want, I'm not gonna force you to out yourself.”

Lev swallowed and gripped the edge of the couch, “Well, I haven't really told a lot of people, but yeah. I like guys. And I hope this doesn't change anything about our friendship, because I'm still the same guy I was before you knew.”

At least Yaku had some confirmation now. He didn’t know what to do with this confirmation, but he had it.

“I don’t think it should change anything in our friendship. I mean, Kuroo and I are pretty good friends and there’s nothing awkward between us. Plus, I like guys too, so it’s really not an issue if you do.”

“Wait, _you’re_ gay?”

Although he seemed completely composed, Yaku was screaming internally. He really, _really_ needed to slow down while he was talking, so that he could think about what he was going to say before he said it. Apparently, he was gay now. A lot had changed from this morning, considering he woke up straight. He did still like girls, so maybe it was just Lev, but that didn’t really matter because he couldn’t tell Lev that the only guy he liked was him.

Yaku accepted the grave he dug for himself and nodded, “Yeah, is that okay?”

“Of course it’s okay! You’re allowed to like whoever you want. I just never thought you were gay. Does anybody else know? Should I keep it a secret?”

“Well, it’s just you and Kuroo that know. I haven’t really told anyone else, so if you could maybe keep it on the down low, that would be great.”

“Okay, I can do that. I can’t believe I was the second person you told, though. Do you really think we’re that close?”

“I guess so. Plus, you told me, right? It seemed like an even exchange.”

Lev nodded and leaned back on the couch, “What do you think we should do now?”

Yaku leaned back as well and sighed, “I don’t know. Maybe you could get some more snacks and we could keep playing truth or dare. Although, I don’t think I’m up for anymore dares involving food. I almost choked on that pretzel one.”

“Alright, no food dares,” he got up and stretched, “Are there any snacks in particular that you want?”

“No, I’m fine with anything.” Yaku waited until Lev was in the kitchen before pulling out his phone again to text Kuroo.

 

“Who were you texting?” Lev dropped a few bags of chips onto the table and set down two cans of soda.

Yaku put his phone away and grabbed a bag to munch on, “Nobody important. Ready to keep playing?”

After grabbing a bag for himself, Lev plopped down next to Yaku and pulled out his phone, “Yeah, just a second.”

“Are you texting someone or--?” His question was cut off when music began playing from Lev’s phone.

“I thought some background noise would be nice. Is that okay?”

That was actually a pretty good idea. If things ever got awkward, there would still be music in order to keep them from falling into silence. Plus, it kind of set the mood.

“It’s fine. I like listening to music anyways.”

“Alright, truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Yaku took a sip of soda and waited while Lev thought of a good question.

“What made you realize you were gay?”

“Wow, okay,” Yaku laughed nervously and set the soda back down, “I guess we’re having a more serious game this time.”

Lev didn’t say anything in response, taking a sip of soda instead. Yaku swore he saw him smirk, though.

“Fine. I guess you could say there was a boy.”

“Oooh, a boy?”

“Yeah, a boy. A cute one, too,” Yaku felt his cheeks heat up and he spoke carefully, trying not to give anything away, “I didn’t really think all that much of him at first, but he grew on me. He was really kind. And funny. Really upbeat, too. He was obviously attractive, can’t forget that. I guess I was denying it for a while before I realized I wasn’t all that straight anymore.”

“Who was he?”

“Only one question per turn, Lev. You’ll just have to wait until it’s your turn again. Now then, truth or dare?”

Lev rolled his eyes, but still had a smile on his face, “Truth.”

“What did you think of me when we first met?”

“That’s a tough one, because I wasn’t really paying attention to you when we first met,” he thought for a moment, “I thought you were very small--” Yaku hit his arm and Lev laughed, “I thought you were very good at volleyball.”

“Is that all?”

“Um.. Well.. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I thought you were kind of cute.”

The smaller boy blushed brightly, only able to manage a shaky, “Oh?”

Lev had to look down at his lap, unable to maintain eye contact, “Yeah, I did. Like I said, you were small, so that was kind of adorable,” he dodged Yaku’s swing that time, “Plus, you were _so_ good at volleyball. I couldn’t really keep my eyes off of you, even though I was supposed to be watching the whole game.”

Well, he certainly hadn’t expected that. Yaku took another sip of soda and cleared his throat, but found that he had nothing to say. What _did_ someone say in response to that?

Eventually, Lev broke the silence, “So, truth or dare?”

Yaku almost said truth, but then he remembered that Lev already had a question on his mind. And he really didn’t want to have to answer that question, “Let’s go with dare.”

The younger boy frowned, “Come on, you were supposed to pick truth.”

“I can pick whatever I want,” Yaku replied smugly, proud of his clever way to avoid the question.

Lev’s eyes narrowed, “I dare you to tell me who the boy is.”

“That's not a dare, that's just a question!”

“No, it was a dare.”

“You’re just being an ass!” He shoved Lev, but the other boy only laughed, shoving him back.

“Sounds like you're being a chicken.”

“Lev, I’m not doing that dare. Pick something else.”

“No way, Yaku. All’s fair in truth or dare,” Yaku rolled his eyes, “It’s either that or ten punches. You know how the rules work.”

The older boy scoffed, “You wouldn’t dare.”

Lev sat up, grinning, “Oh I’d dare. I’ll give you the ten worst punches of your life if you don’t tell me who this super cute boy is.”

Yaku slowly inched backwards away from Lev until he hit the arm of the couch. His knees were propped up and he was peeking over them, eyeing Lev carefully,  “I’m not telling you and I’ll definitely hit you back.”

“Aw, c’mon!” Lev crawled after him, stopping once his knees were at Yaku’s feet, “I had to tell you all about how cute you are.”

“Are?” Yaku raised a brow.

The younger boy blushed, “I meant were. How cute you were. When I first met you.”

“You definitely said are. Unless, you don’t actually think I’m cute anymore,” Yaku bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t believe what was coming out of his mouth. Was he actually _flirting_ with Lev? Successfully?

“I never said that! You’re just twisting my words around!” The libero laughed and Lev flicked his knee, “You’re definitely not cute when you act like this.”

Even though Yaku’s stomach was starting to do flips, he kept pressing on, trying to do what Kuroo had told him to and flirt, “So when I don’t act like this I am cute?”

Lev’s blush deepened, “Most of the time, yeah. But it’s not my turn to be answering questions, so stop asking about it. You need to answer my question first.”

“So you admit that it was a question!”

“That’s not--! I--! Ugh, you know that’s not what I meant. Just do your stupid dare before I punch you. It’s not that bad.”

“Why do you care so much, anyways? Are you jealous or something?”

“W-what? Of course not! I could care less who you think is cute. I just asked the first thing that came to mind and you have to answer it.”

Yaku swallowed the lump in his throat, deciding to get over his fears and just tell Lev. It was obvious that the other boy liked him, anyways, “What if I said it was you?”


	3. Sweet and Sour

The cat was out of the bag at this point and it only made Yaku sink further into the couch. What if Kuroo had been wrong all along and he just totally embarrassed himself? The sinking feeling in his chest made Yaku feel like he was going to throw up.

Lev’s eyes widened, however, before he said, “Seriously?  _ I _ made you realize you were gay?”

Well, it was time to see just how screwed he would be. There was no going back now, “Uh, yeah, you made me realize I was gay. You were the cute boy who somehow managed to grow on me with your kindness and optimism.”

“I thought you came over here for Alisa, though.”

“I did, but we ended up hanging out and you’re really sweet and funny and, um,” he had to look away, his courage could only stretch so far, “You’re attractive. I thought it all over and I guess it just sort of hit me that I like you. A lot.”

There was a long pause and Yaku eventually looked back up at Lev, who was grinning like an idiot, “That’s great, Yaku! You have no idea how great that is! Did you know that I like you a lot, too?”

Yaku laughed, “Yeah, kinda. It’s a little obvious.”

“I can’t help it. I’ve never been good at hiding my feelings. But if you knew the whole time, then why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t know the whole time, actually. Kuroo kind of teased me about it, but I wasn’t 100% sure if he really knew or not.”

“Of course Kuroo knew, I told him.”

“What? You told  _ Kuroo _ ?”

“Yeah, duh. You two are pretty close, so I figured he would help. Plus, I wasn’t sure what the policy was on dating within the team. Kuroo said he was fine with it as long as his kittens were happy.”

“Please don’t say that, it’s weird enough when he does.”

Lev chuckled and leaned over Yaku, placing his hands by the older boy’s head. Spreading his legs a bit, so his knees were beside Lev instead of pressing into him, Yaku blushed. The room suddenly felt very hot.

“Hey, Yaku, when we go out for udon on Monday, can that be a date?”

Of course he had to talk about  _ that _ right now. Something that was far from Yaku’s mind - especially in this position. 

“Sure, Lev. We can go on a date on Monday.”

“And can we be boyfriends now?”

“Yeah, whatever. Just don’t go around telling everybody yet.”

Lev pouted and Yaku looked away. The younger boy was already starting to figure out his weakness for seeing Lev upset. And he was using it to get what he wanted as much as possible, too. 

“Can I tell Kuroo at least? And Hinata?” Yaku opened his mouth to say no, but was cut off when he felt a kiss on his cheek, “I promised I would tell Hinata the moment we started dating.”

Blushing brighter, Yaku nodded slowly, “S-sure, you can tell Hinata. I’ll tell Kuroo, though. I want him to hear it from me.” 

“I’m gonna tell Alisa, too. I hope you don’t mind. She knows that I like you, so it’s only fair.”

“How many people know that you like me?”

The younger boy paused and shrugged, “Most of our teammates, my family, my class, some other kids in my year, friends from the summer training camp, and some people in my neighborhood.”

“Lev!” Yaku glared at the other boy, “I thought you said only a few people knew you were gay!”

“That is a few people!” He looked down as Yaku continued glaring at him, “I just couldn’t help it, Yaku. You’re so pretty and nice and funny and smart and good at volleyball, I couldn’t stop talking about you. I ended up telling everyone all about how much I like you.”

“Don’t think you’re getting out of this just because you said something really cheesy. I’m not going to fall for stupid romantic lines like that.”

“But.. You’re blushing a lot. Are you sure you didn’t like it?”

Of course he liked it. Nobody had ever said such kind things to him before, not even past girlfriends. However, the fact that Lev told everyone he knew all about his crush on Yaku was just embarrassing. Especially since most of the team knew! 

“I am one hundred percent sure that I did not like it.”

Lev chuckled, “I am one  _ thousand _ percent sure that you’re lying.”

Yaku opened his mouth to fire back a retort, but a pair of lips cut him off.

Wait.

A pair of lips?

He didn’t move. Didn’t even return the kiss. Just sat there as Lev awkwardly tried to get a response from him.

Eventually, the younger boy gave up and pulled away, “You’re a terrible kisser, Yaku.”

“I wouldn’t be so terrible if you gave me a fair warning! You’re just being an ass, stealing kisses like that. Don’t you know that you’re supposed to ask for permission before doing something so.. So intimate?”

“Unlike you, I don’t have much experience with this, Yaku.”

Experience? Ha. Yaku’s experience was a girlfriend in middle school and some stupid fling in his second year of high school. There was no experience in either of those relationships, especially not in the kissing department. 

“Well,” Yaku started, “From now on, you should ask before kissing me.” That way he could prepare himself for something he was definitely amateur at. Maybe if he knew it was coming, he wouldn’t be so terrible.

“Alright then, can I kiss you, Yaku?”

\---

It was all downhill after that first night. Or uphill, depending on how you looked at it. They shared more than just one kiss, simply because Lev couldn’t resist drowning Yaku in affection and their date on Monday was even worse (or better, depending on how you looked at it).

To Yaku, it was one of the most embarrassing dates of his entire life. Lev insisted that they split the couple’s meal and even fed Yaku a few bites. They held hands for almost the entire date and received plenty of looks from other patrons. To Lev, it was the best date he’d ever had.

After that, things started falling into place. At first, only them, Hinata, and Kuroo knew. Alisa found out on her own, as did most of the team. Every Karasuno member was aware of it, due to Hinata’s babbling, and Yaku had received a text from his setter friend at Karasuno offering a congratulations.

Lev and Yaku ate lunch together almost regularly, usually on the roof because it was more private. Occasionally, Kuroo would join them in order to brag about his matchmaking skills (though Lev and Yaku both agreed they were more like meddling skills). Students in both of their classes eventually asked if they were a couple and they answered truthfully; they weren’t hiding it, just not announcing it.

When they were at practice, Yaku would act like his usual self towards Lev, yelling at him and trying to get him to stay focused. Outside of practice, though, they were sickeningly sweet to each other. So much so, that Kenma refused to hang out with them if both were there. Yaku insisted that they were not that bad, but after he got over his initial shyness, Yaku was almost worse than Lev about couple things.

Their favorite activity, though, was going over to Lev’s house to watch movies and snack on sweets. Yaku’s favorite candy was still the sour gummy worms, but he disagreed with Lev’s opinion that they were like him. Their first impression was sour and upsetting, but then there would be the sweetness and they would be absolutely delicious. Yaku said that, between the two, it was Lev that was sour like the gummy worms. And that’s what made him fall in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was short and sickeningly sweet, I agree with Kenma.
> 
> By the way, I'm always wondering want to write next, so if you have an idea you'd like to see me put into action, feel free to ask! Comment below or message me on tumblr at artistic-fucks.tumblr.com . Thank you for all of your support!


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